USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume I > Part 58
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On Saturday, August 6th, the conference being still in progress, Paxinosa, with Abraham (Schabash) the Mohegan chief, arrived at Easton with about fifty or sixty of their people. Conrad Weiser and Richard Peters went to them, and with a string of wampum bade them welcome. Teedyuscung and the deputies of the Six Nations did the same thing. On the next day (Sunday) Teedyuscung, taking out the Peace Belt that had been delivered to him by the Governor, repeated over what had been said on it, informing Paxinosa and Abraham of the peace concluded by him between the English and the ten several nations he represented-repeating over the names of those ten nations. Follow- ing Teedyuscung's speech to Paxinosa and Abraham the Governor said to Paxinosa :
"You have been frequently invited by this Government to come and give us the pleasure of a visit. I am glad to see you. * * We have often inquired after you, and always heard you continued to be our hearty friend and a lover of peace."
The most important matter broached by Teedyuscung at this treaty was contained in the following speecht :
"We [meaning Teedyuscung and his clan of the Delaware nation] intend to settle at Wyoming, and we want to have certain boundaries fixed between you and us ; and a certain tract of land fixed which it shall not be lawful for us or our children ever to sell,
* From Walton's "Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of Colonial Pennsylvania," pages 355 and 367. ¡ See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," VII : 678.
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nor for you or any of your children ever to buy. We would have the boundaries fixed all round, agreeable to the draft we give you, that we may not be pressed on any side. And as we intend to make a settlement at Wyoming, and to build different houses from what we have done heretofore-such as may last not only for a little time, but for our children after us-we desire you will assist us in making our settlements, and send us persons to instruct us in building houses and in making such necessaries as shall be need- ful ; and that persons be sent to instruct us in the Christian religion (which may be for our future welfare) and instruct our children in reading and writing ; and that a fair trade be established between us, and such persons appointed to conduct and manage these affairs as shall be agreeable to us."
In reply to these matters the Governor said :
"The Proprietaries have never granted away any lands, although within the limits of this Province, without first purchasing them of the Indians. And having never bought of them the lands between Shamokin and Wyoming they have, therefore, never laid claim to them under any Indian purchase ; and in the name of the Proprietaries I now disclaim all such right-of which I would have you take notice. I am pleased you have made choice of that place. It is perfectly agreeable to me, and I assure you I will heartily con- cur with you in using all the means in my power to have those lands settled upon you and your posterity."
Teedyuscung then expressed a desire that the Governor would send people to Wyoming during the coming Fall or early in the next Spring, and that a little fort might be built here. The Indians would then move down from Tioga, about the beginning of May.
The conference at Easton came to an end on Sunday, August 7th, and in the afternoon of that day the Governor and his attendants left for Bethlehem, en route to Philadelphia. The next day over a hundred Indians-among them Paxinosa and "French Margaret"-reached Beth- lehem, escorted by Colonel Weiser and a detachment of Provincials commanded by Capt. Jacob Arndt of Fort Allen. On the 9th of August Teedyuscung, his family, Abraham the Mohegan chief, old King Nuti- mus and many others arrived at Bethlehem from Easton. "Some of these unwelcome visitors halted for a few days," says Reichel,* "and some proceeded as far as Fort Allen and then returned, undecided as to where to go and what to do. During the month full 200 were counted -men, women and children-among them lawless crowds who annoyed the [Moravian] Brethren by depredations, molested the Indians at the Manakasy, and wrangled with each other over their cups at 'The Crown.' "+
Teedyuscung tarried at Bethlehem for two or three days, when, having been provided by the Province with a new saddle and bridle, and a supply of snuff, ginger-bread, soap and other luxuries-in addition to the gifts which he had received at the treaty-he proceeded to Fort Allen. His wife and their three young children remained behind at Bethlehem, and for their occupancy a cabin was built at the expense of the Province. On August 15th and 16th many of the Indians set out from Fort Allen for Tioga and the country beyond. On the 17th, accompanied by their followers, Paxinosa, Abraham and Teedyuscung- the latter "very glad and joyful," as Captain Arndt wrote at the time
* "Memorials of the Moravian Church," page 327.
+An inn-originally the cabin of a Swiss squatter-which stood until about 1860 near the site of the Union Station of the Lehigh Valley and North Pennsylvania Railroads in South Bethlehem. In 1794, says Reichel, "the sign-board, emblazoned with the British Crown, that had often served as a mark for the arrows of the wild Indian boys of Teedyuscung's company, was taken down and the old hostelry was con- verted into a farm-house." Referring to the time "when Teedyuscung and his hangers-on were constantly on the wing between Fort Allen and Easton and Easton and Fort Allen, playing at toss and catch with Governor Denny and his men of State, or beguiling them at numberless treaties and conferences (by soft words and the music of Indian oratory) into a hope for peace when there was war," Reichel states, in his story of "The Rose Inn" : "Ever and anon did these ghastly, gaunt and ominous birds alight in a flock at 'The Crown,' invade the sanctity of the landlord's private apartments, the tap-room and the larder, and clamor for victuals and drink. They would come at all hours of the day, and even the mid- night air was known to sound with the rustling of their wings."
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-left Fort Allen for Wyoming, on their way to Tioga. When about twenty miles above Wyoming, near Tunkhannock, this company was met by three Indian men and a boy who had a message, accompanied by a Peace Belt and a four-fold string of wampum, for Teedyuscung from two of the principal chiefs in the Ohio region. The King immedi- ately delivered into the hands of one of his sons and the four messengers abovementioned the large belt given him at Easton, directing them to carry it, with a message which he dictated, to the Ohio chiefs. Then, leaving his companions, the King forthwith retraced his way to Beth- lehem, where he arrived August 25th.
At Bethlehem Teedyuscung spent a couple of days with his wife and children, meanwhile holding a conference with Bishop Spangen- berg, J. Martin Mack and other Moravian Brethren-Augustus ("George Rex"), the christianized Delaware chief formerly of Meniolagomeka (see page 338), serving as interpreter. The following interesting ac- count, in part, of that informal interview is from Reichel's "Memorials of the Moravian Church," page 347 :
"Teedyuscung resumed by asking the following question : 'Why cannot the Indi- ans who love the Savior remove to the Indian country and plant along the Susquehanna ? The Brethren surely can visit them, preach to the men and women and instruct the chil- dren.' Brother Spangenberg rejoined by saying that, in case our Indian Brethren and Sisters were to remove there, they would require a town of their own and in it a school and a church where the Gospel could be freely preached. For this he would stipulate in advance. And furthermore, he would make it a condition that all Indians who should be desirous of hearing of the Savior should be at liberty to come to the town ; and on the other hand all that were disinclined to His service, or did wickedness, or were seducers, should be excluded.
"Teedyuscung took no exceptions to these conditions, assented to all that had been . said, and then expressed a wish that the Indians who loved the Savior might live to- gether. 'If there be any likelihood of this coming to pass,' resumed Brother Spangen- berg, 'I desire that the settlement be made in the valley where the Shawanese had their seats fifteen years ago* ; and if the owners of the land make us a proposal to buy, Brother Mack and myself will gladly go up to Wyoming and view the place and select a spot.' * *
"In course of conversation Teedyuscung stated that during hostilities the wildest reports prejudicial to the Brethren had been in circulation among the Indians. It was currently believed by them, among other things, that the Brethren had decapitated the Indians that had fallen into their hands, had thrown their heads into sacks and sent them to Philadelphia. This charge, and others equally extravagant, had so exasperated the Indians that a number of them had conspired to attack the Brethren's settlements and cut off the inhabitants without regard to age or sex. That Paxinosa and he, the King, had on one occasion persuaded 200 warriors, who had banded together for this purpose, to desist from their intention until they had certain assurance of the truth of the charge. * * * Throughout the interview the King was animated and strictly attentive. He was naturally quick of apprehension and ready in reply. In the course of the conver- sation he frequently alluded to his baptism, and to his former membership in the mis- sion, observing in this connection-with apparent regret-that he had lost the peace of mind he once enjoyed, but he hoped, however, that it would return ; and that it was his sincere desire to remain in connection with us in preference to any other people among the whites."
Teedyuscung proceeded from Bethlehem to Philadelphia, and on August 30th appeared before the Governor and Council, to whom he repeated the message he had received from the Ohio chiefs. It was to the effect that they were sorry for having struck the English, and con- cluded with these words : "We will not lift up our hatchet to break the good work you (Teedyuscung) have been transacting." Teedyuscung stated that he had sent them "an answer for himself as well as the Dela- wares, Shawanese, Mohegans and Unamis." Asked by the Governor whether the Monseys, or Minisinks, did not join in the answer, he said "No." In the course of the interview Teedyuscung saidt :
* In 1742, within the present limits of the borough of Plymouth. See pages 180 and 209, ante.
+ See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," VII : 726.
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"Paxinosa, the Shawanese King, Abraham, the Mohegan Chief, and James Davies,* one of the Unamis, when it was agreed that I should go to Philadelphia to let the Gov- ernor know the good news I had received, spoke these words : 'Teedyuscung, you must go soon to Wyomink. You must go and live there, and we three nations will soon come to you. Be sure you let the Governor know this, and desire him to build a little fort at Wyomink for the safety of our wives and children.' "'
The Governor immediately notified the Assembly of the news brought by Teedyuscung, and of his desire to have arrangements made for settling and protecting the Indians at Wyoming. In reference to this latter matter the Assembly, on September 1st, sent a message to the Governor containing the following :
"This request appears to us so reasonable and necessary for securing the frontiers of this Province from the inroads of the enemy, by settling the Indians at Wyoming, that if your Honor has power (as you have declared your inclination ) to have those lands settled upon them and their posterity, in the manner they have proposed, we shall im- mediately prepare a Bill."
To this the Governor forthwith repliedt :
"Sensible of the expediency and many advantages that will result to the Province by settling the Indians at Wyomink, and appropriating to them a sufficient quantity of land for planting and hunting, * * I shall write the Proprietaries and desire that they would not only send me powers to confirm those lands to the Indians, but that they would solicit the Six Nations-who have the Indian right-to join with me in such confirmation."
A few days later the Assembly, by a committee, communicated to the Governor its sentiments on the subject under consideration in the following words :
"It gives us pleasure to find that the Ohio Indians are willing to join in the peace concluded at Easton, and that the Shawanese, Mohegans and Unamis are desirous of settling on Sasquehannah and have requested your Honor, by their several chiefs, to build a fort. * * We are of opinion a compliance with this request should not be post- poned a moment longer than necessary ; therefore we request you, with all expedition, to proceed to build such a place of security as shall be agreeable to the Indians, and as many houses as they shall stand in need of-at the place nominated by Teedyuscung- for their comfortable living and safety."
One week later the Governor and the Council held a conference to arrange for the sending of proper persons to Wyoming to build a fort and houses here for the Delawares. It was urged that as Mr. John Hughest had offered his services and had been recommended by the Assembly for the performance of this work, the business would be clogged were Hughes' tender to be refused and the work be put under the care of any other person. On the other hand it was stated that, as he was known to be a violent partizan and "to have uncommon bitter- ness against the Proprietaries and the Administration, it was not doubted but he would give unfavorable impressions of both to the Indians, and set the latter against the former. It was, therefore, recommended that the Governor should engage Conrad Weiser to assume the management of the matter on foot. Colonel Weiser, however, declined the appoint- ment-giving his reasons therefor. At the same time he advised that the Six Nations should be made acquainted, through Sir William John- son, with the project and "be told that it was done at the request of the Delawares ; and that we claim no right, by means of that fort, to the lands of Wyomink, but leave the fort to be possessed and defended by the Indians."
* Evidently the chief of the band of Unamis, or Wanamies, who had occupied the village of Matcha- saung, referred to on pages 212 and 213.
+ See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," VII : 727, 730, 734.
Į He was then a member of the Provincial Board of Indian Commissioners. In 1765 he was the Stamp Tax Collector in and for Pennsylvania, and in September of that year he and many of his friends opposed the sending of commissioners, or representatives, from the people to a congress to be held in New York for the purpose of remonstrating to the Home Government against the Stamp Act.
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The Governor and Council accepted Weiser's excuses and advice, and it was decided to have John Hughes go to Wyoming; but, in addi- tion, it was resolved to "try if Edward Shippen and James Galbraith could be persuaded to undertake the journey and joint care with Hughes of the business." Therefore, on October 5, 1757, Governor Denny issued a commission to John Hughes, Edward Shippen,« the Rev. Charles
* EDWARD SHIPPEN, 2d, born at Boston, Massachusetts, July 9, 1703, was the eldest child of Joseph Shippen (born at Boston February 28, 1679 ; died at Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1741) and his wife Abigail Grosse (married July 28, 1702 ; died at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 28, 1716).
Joseph Shippen, abovementioned, was the sixth child of Edward Shippen and his first wife, Elizabeth Lybrand, of Boston. He was Grand Master of Free Masons in Pennsylvania in 1738-'40. The last-men- tioned Edward Shippen was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1639, and immigrated in 1668 to Boston, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. Having embraced Quakerism he was persecuted therefor, and for conscience sake, and in response to an invitation from William Penn, he removed to Philadelphia in 1694. He was elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly July 9, 1695, and in 1701 became the first Mayor of Philadelphia-being named for that office by William Penn in the charter granted by him October 25th. It is said that Mayor Shippen "had the biggest person, the biggest house and the biggest coach in the Province, and his property in Philadelphia stretched unbroken from Sixteenth Street to the Delaware River." He died at Philadelphia October 2, 1712.
Edward Shippen, 2d, grandson and namesake of the last-mentioned (and Wyoming Commissioner in 1757), removed with his parents in 1704 from Boston to Philadelphia, and thence to Germantown in 1716 with his father and the other members of the family after the death of Mrs. Abigail Shippen. Later he returned to Philadelphia, where, for a number of years, he was engaged in mercantile pursuits-dealing largely in supplies for Indian traders. In 1744 he was Mayor of the city. Prior to 1750 he laid out and named, in that part of Lancaster County which is now Cumberland County, the town of Shippensburg- the oldest town, except York, west of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania. In May, 1752, Edward Shippen removed to the borough of Lancaster, where he was appointed Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County. This office he held till 1778. He was also one of the Judges of the Lancaster County Courts under both the Provincial and the State Governments ; and during the French and Indian War he was a Paymaster of Army Supplies. In 1746 he was one of the founders of "The College of New Jersey" (Princeton University), and for twenty years was a member of its Board of Trustees. He died at Lancaster September 25, 1781.
In 1764 Judge Jasper Yeates-whose wife was a granddaughter of Edward Shippen-wrote of the lat- ter, then in the sixty-first year of his life, as follows : "I know none happier in their temper and dispo- sition, or any who have a greater fund of pleasantry and good humor than the old gentleman. In a minute he relates to me ten different stories, interlarding each narrative with choice scraps of Latin, Greek and French." Another, who knew him well, wrote of him later: "He was in truth a many-sided man. One found him reading, with enjoyment, Telemachus in the original French ; quoting Latin verses in his correspondence with Robert Cooper, the minister; ordering in London in 1749 a bust of Pope and Ovid's 'Epistles,' 'with ye best notes ;' a subscriber to the Philadelphia Academy, afterwards the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania."
Edward Shippen was twice married, his first wife being his step-sister Sarah Plumley, to whom he was married at Philadelphia September 20, 1725. Their fourth child was Edward Shippen, Jr. (the third of the name), who was born at Philadelphia February 16, 1729. In 1746 he began the study of law under the direction of Tench Francis (Attorney General of Pennsylvania, 1744-'52, and Recorder of Philadelphia, 1750-'54), and at the end of two years went to London to complete his studies. In 1750 he was there admitted a Barrister of the Middle Temple, and shortly afterwards returned to Philadelphia and began to practise his profession. About the time of his father's removal to Lancaster he was appointed Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and Judge of the Court of Vice Admiralty for the Province. These offices he held for several years, and in the meantime was appointed a member of the Provincial Council. About 1775 he was appointed President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia. Upon the breaking out of the Revolution he gave up his various offices, and during the war lived in comparative retirement in Philadelphia, being a loyalist-although not offensively so. No act of disloyalty was charged against him by the Americans, but he was required in 1776 to give a parole to stay within certain limits. (See "Pennsylvania Colonial Records," XI : 38.) During the occupation of Philadelphia by the British Major André was a guest at his house. In October, 1785, Edward Shippen, Jr., was appointed President Judge of the various Courts of Philadelphia County. In 1791 he was appointed one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State, and became Chief Justice of the Court in December, 1799, by appointment of Governor Mckean, who had just resigned the office to assume that of Governor. Judge Shippen held this office until about the close of 1805, when he resigned it. He died at Philadelphia April 16, 1806.
Judge Edward Shippen, Jr., was married November 29, 1753, to Margaret (born 1735; died 1794), sixth child of Tench Francis, previously mentioned, and his wife Elizabeth Turbutt, a native of Kent County, Maryland. Elizabeth ("Betsey"), eldest child of Judge Edward and Margaret (Francis) Shippen, was born September 15, 1754, and was married in December, 1778, to her first cousin Maj. Edward Shippen Burd (see post); and Margaret ("Peggy"), sixth and youngest child of Judge and Mrs. Shippen, was born June 11, 1760, and was married April 8, 1779, to Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold, mentioned on page 284.
Sarah Shippen, fifth child of Edward and Sarah (Plumley) Shippen, was born in Philadelphia Feb- ruary 22, 1730, and about 1750 was married to James Burd. He was born at Ormiston, near Edinburgh, Scotland, March 10, 1726, the third son and youngest child of Edward Burd. In 1747 or '48 he immigrated to America. In 1752 and '53 he and his wife were living on Edward Shippen's property at Shippensburg. In April, 1755, he was appointed a commissioner with George Croghan and others to lay out a road from Harris' Ferry on the Susquehanna to the Ohio River. As early as February, 1756, he held a commission as Captain in the Second Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Colonel Clapham. In July, 1756, Captain Burd was promoted Major of this Battalion (which then and later was commonly called the "Augusta Regiment"), and was stationed at Fort Augusta, Shamokin. In February and March, 1757, and later he was in command of this fort. January 2, 1758, he was promoted "Colonel commanding the . Second Battalion," and in the following November was at Loyalhanna.
In 1759 Colonel Burd was sent into what is now Fayette County, Pennsylvania, to continue the cutting of Braddock's road, where incomplete, as far as the junction of Redstone Creek with the Monongahela River, the present site of Brownsville. At that point, in October, 1759, "Fort Burd" was constructed. It long continued to be the favorite rendezvous for those who kept watch upon the movements of the Indi- ans inhabiting the head-waters of the Ohio. From its location the fort became more widely known as "Redstone Old Fort." At the beginning of the Revolution Colonel Burd was very active in the efforts inade to raise troops for the American cause, and September 18, 1775, he was commissioned Colonel of the Fourth Battalion (composed of seven companies), Lancaster County Associators, of the "Pennsylvania Associated Battalions." Dissensions in his battalion, reluctance on the part of the soldiers to serve any- where else than in their own immediate neighborhood, and his own great disappointment at not receiv- ing a commission as Brigadier General, induced Colonel Burd to resign his commission in December, 1776.
In 1758 Colonel Burd purchased 600 acres of land in Paxtang, Lancaster County, now Lower Swatara Township, Dauphin County, six miles below Harrisburg, and there in 1760 he erected a stone house, which
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Beatty (a Presbyterian clergyman) and James Galbraith*, as "Agents and Commissioners on the part of the Province, to construct such a fort and build as many houses as shall be necessary for the residence, security and protection from their enemies of Teedyuscung, the Delaware Indi- ans and the Ten Nation Indians considered with them at the late treaty at Easton ; and in such form, place and manner as shall be most agree- able to Teedyuscung and the other Indians who shall be present." The Commissioners were instructed by the Governor to "consult with the Indians and contrive and accommodate matters to their satisfaction." Commissioner Hughes insisted that the workmen, as well as the Provin- cial troops who would accompany the party to Wyoming as a guard, should be placed under his sole orders. This, however, was denied by the Governor and Council as an "absurd demand."
Under date of October 23, 1757, at Harris' Ferry, Capt. Joseph Shippen wrote to his brother-in-law Maj. James Burd, at Fort Augusta, as followst :
"The Governor, agreeable to the promises made the Indians at Easton, has appointed John Hughes, Edward Shippen, James Galbraith and Henry Pawlingt, Esquires, Com- missioners for constructing a stockade fort and building a number of houses for the accommodation of the Indians at Wyoming, which is an affair of great consequence, to be done immediately. The Governor has ordered a party of three companies to be detached from the Western Battalion to escort the above Commissioners to Wyoming and to accom- plish the work there ; and he has appointed Captain Mercer? and myself to be two of the
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